Machine for crimping harness-pads



(No Model) 7 R. J. WELLES.

MAGHINE FOR GRIMPING HARNESS PADS.

No. 270,712. I Patented Jan. 16,1883.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE." f

RICHARD J. WELLES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR CRIMPING HARNESS-PADS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,712, dated January 16, 1863,

f Application filed September 25, 1882. No model.) i

ing or shaping the covers of harness-pads, and

its object has been to improve the work done by 'such machines as to, uniformity and general excellence, and especially to cause the pad to assume a form agreeing in outline with the horses back, so that when finished and putin use the pad will not injure the animals back, and will also be more durable than the pads as now made. The machine is also adapted to quicken and render lesslaborious the crimping part of the manufacture, and is very useful in cases where the cover for both parts of the pad is made of a single piece of leather.

The invention consists in the novel construclion and combination of devices hereinafter fully set forth and described.

In .the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved machine with the In the drawings, A represents a bed-plate secured upon a bench, A.

B isa peculiarly-formed piece of metal,flexibly held down upon A by the spring 0, secured to the floor, and the intermediate rod, 0, the adjusting-link O and the rod 0 the latter being surmounted by a ball, a", resting in a correspondingly-shaped socket located in the center of the piece B. The peculiarities of this piece B, which I call the many-bottomed base, in addition to its flexible ball-and-socket attachment, are that it is provided with four inwardly-inclined sides or bottoms, b, upon each of which in turn it maybe made to rest. In-

lines, Fig. 1; and it may be changed from any of these positions'to any one of the remaining four positions in an instant .by the operator. The spring yields to the'force exerted upon the piece B sufficiently to allow these changes, but is of proper strength to hold the piece down firmly upon the bed-plate, whichever of the five positions it occupies.

It should be noticed thatin each position the spring force is exerted at the center of the side upon which the piece may be'resting-that is to say, the ball-and-socket joint is located in each of the several positions directly over the center of the supporting-face, so that the piece is rendered steady and stable during the crimping operations. This'is due to thepeculiar conformation of the piece B, and will be understood from the drawings.

7 At the top of the piece B are two upright arms, B, upon which is secured a frame composed of two oppositely-inclined arms, D D, each of which is provided at its extremity and at intervals with laterally-extending slotted projections d, in the slots of which are inserted the stretching screw clamps E, to be described below. The projections d extend each way from the arms I), and similar ones are emv ployed at the center'or junction of the arms D. The form or last F, which is of the size and shape it is desired to impart to the pad, except that perhaps the angle between the halves thereof is slightly more obtuse than that which the pad'should possess, is first placed upon the frame D D, the projections (1 cl entering the hollow under side of'the last and holding it secure. The blank or cover G is then laid on the form, and the clamps E brought into use. The edges of the material are seized by the clamping-jaws e of these clamps,-tightened by the screw 0. The screw 0 which forms the body of the clamps, is then slipped into the slot of one of the projections d, with the shoulder 6 below said projection, and as soon as the opposing pairs of these stretching devices have been thus applied the stretching may begin by turning the screws 6 The square nut efljust above the shoulder 6 fits the slot of the projection d, so that said shoulder is prevented from rotating with the screw.

At proper times during the crimping the leather is rubbed by the operator, and it is here that one of the chief benefits of my invention is obtained-via, the facility with which the operator is enabled to get at every part of the material for this purpose. rotated upon the bed to any point, and it can be operated upon in the upright position, or in any of the inclined positions as well, and the rotation may take place whichever of the five bottoms the base is resting upon. The operator is thus permitted to use his strength to the best advantage and to perform his work quickly. The stretching may be adjusted to the requirements of the different parts of the last, and very uniform and perfect work be thus done. After the leather has been brought to the shape desired a clamping-frame consisting v of bars H, at each side extending the length of the last, and transverse tightening-screws h at the extremities, is applied to the form, so that the stretching-screws may be released and the last be removed from theframe. Fig. 2 illustrates both the stretching and the clamping by this frame after stretching.

The last and the blank secured upon it after stretching present the appearance given in Fig. 5, and may be lifted off and another last and blank be substituted therefor upon the frame Without loss of time. The slots in the projections (1 permit all needed range of lateral adjustment to the stretching-screws, so that said screws may be used with work of varying widths. Indeed, the only part of my apparatus which needs change to accommodate different sizes and widths of work is the last or mold.

Of course it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to a five-bottomed base for the supporting-frame, as any other convenient number of bottoms may be used.

By the use of this invention a pad-cover consisting of a single piece of leather may be shaped so perfectly that the bridge portion thereof will be as free from wrinkles as any other part, and so that no subsequent shaping of thatportion will be required. This islargely, if not entirely, due to the fact that my last is a complete last for the whole pad, instead of being a last for half of the pad only, or a last for the whole pad with the limbs lying in The last can be.

a straight line with one another. The arms of the supporting-frame serve also as levers whereby to change from one of the bottoms of the base-piece to another, and render easy that operation.

I claim- 1. In a machine for crimping harness-pads, the combination, with a supporting-frame and stretching devices, substantially as described, of a last conforming in shape and outline to the shape and outline desired for the completed pad, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with devices, substantially as described, for stretching the blank imposed thereon, of a last for the entire pad, having its extremities inclined as in the completed pad, whereby the bridge of the pad may be completely and perfectly shaped at the same time with the crimping of the other parts, substantially as specified.

3. Thecombination,withasupporting-frame and stretching devices secured thereto, of the removable last F and a clamping device for retaining the leather after stretching, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with a last and the supporting-frame, of the stretching-clamps laterally adjustable in the frame to and from the longitudinal center of the last, substantially as specified.

5. The supporting-frame consisting of the arms D D, having the lateral slotted projections, and the stretching-screws inserted in said slotted projections, in combination with a padlast, substantially as specified.

6. The supporting-frame mounted upon a revoluhle and in an y-bottomed base, essentially such as described, in combination with such base, a bed for the base, and yielding devices for securing the base to the bed, substantially as specified.

7. In amachineforcrimpingharness-padsmhe many-bottomed base, held down by a yielding attachment connected to the base by aball-andsocket joint, substantially as specified.

S. The many-bottomed base or stand, held down by a yielding attachment, in combination with a supporting-frame mounted thereon, and havingspreading arms D, servingaslevers in making changes in position, substantially as specified.

RICHARD J. VVELLES.

Witnesses: H. M. MUNDAY, T. EVERETT BROWN. 

